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Saturday, November 16, 2013

Saturday, November 16, 2013

More than 40 volunteers from local churches pitched in
Saturday morning to remove trash and debris along major roads intersecting with
State Routes 52 and 125﻿

The volunteers collected 30 bags of trash that together weighed more than 200 pounds, along with four abandoned shopping carts.

The massive cleanup, organized by the Santee Ministerial
Council, was the first to include members from several churches including Newbreak, Sunrise and United Methodist.

“Our vision is to unite all the interfaith groups in Santee
and work side-by-side to beautify our community,” said Marsi Walker, a member
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who helped organize the
cleanup.

The areas cleaned up Saturday morning are right-of-ways
owned by the State Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which historically
has relied on community groups, volunteers and businesses to keep roadways tidy
through its “Adopt-a-Highway” program.

Santee is trying to establish a Right-of-Way Adoption
program aimed at cleaning areas near freeway onramps and offramps created when
State Route 52 was extended across the city in 2011.

When landscaping along the new section of SR 52 is completed
in 2015, Caltrans will rely more heavily on volunteers for trash removal.

“We want to get ahead of that and make sure we can keep
those areas looking nice and trash-free and weed-free,” said Santee’sParks and Landscape Supervisor Annette Saul.